Member Spotlight Archive

Piqua, Ohio

Where vision becomes reality

What is now Piqua was an important American Indian settlement and trading post prior to European-American settlers. The name “Piqua” comes from the Shawnee tribe – their village was pronounced (Pe-quaw).

The city’s beginnings date back to 1807. It was incorporated in 1823 and reincorporated in 1835. The city of Piqua moved to the city manager/city commission form of government in 1930.

Located in west central Ohio along the banks of Great Miami River, Piqua is about 25 miles north of Dayton and 80 miles north of Cincinnati.

The city offers a quiet way of life, while just a short drive from big-city attractions. Piqua boasts manymuseums, a charming historic district and significant Veteran’s Memorial.

Promoting innovation
Piqua partnered with Wright State University (WSU) engineering students to promote development of a successful solar irrigation system. The system utilizes an instrumentation system, which was put in place with assistance from the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program. The irrigation system is also a DEED project – built by WSU students thanks to a 2011 DEED scholarship. A 2012 scholarship kept students involved by allowing them to assemble diagnostic tools to monitor the system and quantify its operation. The monitoring system was completed in August 2012.

Located on a farm southeast of Piqua, the solar irrigation system stores rain water in a ground-based reservoir. When water is needed, a water pump is operated with power from solar panels or a battery (in the case solar is unavailable). The use of solar power means the system does not need access to power lines, which could be of great benefit for remote farming locations.

Always striving to be as environmentally conscious as possible, Piqua has also been designated a “Tree City, USA” by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

Delivering quality service
The Piqua Edison Illuminating Company was established in 1884, with the Piqua Municipal Power Plant going online about 50 years later. The community went nuclear from 1963 through 1966 with the construction of the nation’s first municipally operated atomic power plant.

The Piqua Power System moved into a newly constructed, technology-laden facility in 2012, which has enhanced security, operational and energy efficiency. Piqua is also constructing upgraded fiber optic communication infrastructure, and continues working on LED street lighting and distribution improvement projects to benefit city residents.

For 2013-14, Piqua Municipal Power System was once again awarded the Diamond level designation by APPA for its Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) program.

Piqua, a two-time Diamond winner, is the only AMP member to have received this level of designation.

As an RP3 recipient, the designation is essentially proof of reliability and shines a light on the utility for the excellent service it provides.

As a member of AMP, Piqua participates in a number of AMP programs and projects that assist in providing reliable energy and other benefits to the community and its citizen-owners. These include:

Blue Creek Wind Farm, a 314-MW wind farm in northwest Ohio that helps diversify AMP’s pool of resources providing power to members

Meldahl/Greenup, which includes the run-of-the-river hydroelectric generating facility currently under construction at the Captain Anthony Meldahl Dam on the Ohio River and the existing generating facility at the Greenup Dam, also on the Ohio River

Mutual Aid, a network of municipal electric systems that assist each other when utility emergencies occur that are too widespread to be handled by one system alone

New York Power Authority (NYPA), providing hydroelectricity generated by the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers

Phase 1 Hydro, which includes the run-of-the-river generating facilities currently under construction at the Cannelton, Smithland and Willow Island dams on the Ohio River